Gloriosa España de Franco: An HOI3 FtM AAR

**mankle30** · 26-09-2011 04:15

Prelude

Francisco Franco y Bahamonde stood watching the sun set over the Canary Islands. There would be little of this tropical beauty and peace in the coming months. After having been humiliated and removed from his post as chief of staff of the army, and assigned here, there would be only one way back. He allowed himself one more glance at the beach and one more thought about the Spain he envisioned for the future. He would return Spain to its proper place in the world, as a leader rather than as a backwater that the Republic had become. But those thoughts would have to wait. The flames of war were coming. A war between brothers, between countrymen.

**mankle30** · 26-09-2011 04:28

Welcome! This will be a Nationalist Spain AAR using FtM 3.05, and will be an exploration of what is possible with Spain going forward during and after the civil war. I will be making a real effort not to play too far beyond what has been posted. I'm still getting used to FtM, so it's very possible that mistakes will be made. This should make things more exciting!

So, without further ado, here is Gloriosa Espana de Franco (Franco's Glorious Spain)!

Index

Prelude

Part 1: Civil War

Chapter 1: So much to do...
Chapter 2: ... so little time.
Chapter 3: Start the Clock
Chapter 4: A New Day
Chapter 5: The Next Week - February 13-19 1936
Chapter 6: Civil War Week 2 - February 20-26 1936
Chapter 7: Civil War Week 3 - February 27 - March 5, 1936
Chapter 8: Civil War Week 4 - March 6-12, 1936
Chapter 9: The end of Civil War

Part 2: A New Era
Chapter 10: The State of the Union
Chapter 11: The Next Step
Chapter 12: A Shortlived Time of Peace
Chapter 13: Gearing Up For War
Chapter 14: A Controlled War
Chapter 15: January - May 1937 - Mopping Up
Chapter 16: A Fateful Meeting
Chapter 17: A Quiet Time for Spain - May 4 - December 31, 1937
Chapter 18: The Men are Getting Too Comfortable - January 1 - April 27, 1938

Part 3: The Empire Expands
Chapter 19: War with Yugoslavia April 28 - May 19, 1938
Chapter 20: War with Bulgaria May 20 - August 15, 1938
Chapter 21: War with Hungary part 1 - August 16 - September 30, 1938
Chapter 22: War with Hungary part 2 - October 1 - 31, 1938

Part 4: The Calm Before the Storm
Chapter 23: Preparations, part 1 - November 1, 1938 - March 31, 1939
Chapter 24: Preparations, part 2 - April 1 - September 2, 1939
Chapter 25: Preparations, part 3 - September 3 - December 23 ,1939

Part 5: The Wider War
Chapter 26: The Orders Are Given, December 23, 1939
Chapter 27: All In - December 23 - 31, 1939
Chapter 28: A New Year, A New Problem - January 1 - 15, 1940
Chapter 29: Into the Rabbit Hole - January 16 - 31, 1940
Chapter 30: You Win Some, You Lose Some - February 1-14, 1940
Chapter 31: The Squeezer and the Squeezee - February 15 - March 1, 1940
Chapter 32: The Threat Abates - March 1 - 31, 1940
Chapter 33: Closing up the Bottle - April 1 - 30, 1940
Chapter 34: On to the Next Task - May 1 - 31, 1940
Chapter 35: Bring on the French! June 1 - 30, 1940
Chapter 36: The Fall of France - July 1 - 31, 1940

Part 6: Consolidation
Chapter 37: Rest, Reorganize, Upgrade - August 1 - September 30, 1940
Chapter 38: An end to the Bloody '40 - October 1 - December 31, 1940
Chapter 39: A Minor Conflict - January 1 - February 28, 1941

**eqqman** · 26-09-2011 04:38

Good luck!

What exactly are some of your overall goals?

**mankle30** · 26-09-2011 04:44

Originally Posted by eqqman

Good luck!

What exactly are some of your overall goals?

Welcome eqqman! I'm enjoying your UK AAR, by the way! I don't want to give too much away, but I won't be playing historically, seeing as Spain pretty much sat out the war after Franco took over. That won't be fun, will it?

EDIT: I'll probably post the first chapter tomorrow.... I spent way too much time getting screen shots together and uploaded to the hosting site today.

**eqqman** · 26-09-2011 06:29

Originally Posted by mankle30

Welcome eqqman! I'm enjoying your UK AAR, by the way! I don't want to give too much away, but I won't be playing historically, seeing as Spain pretty much sat out the war after Franco took over. That won't be fun, will it?

Thanks!

Can you at least give us a hint on if this will be a good or evil Franco?

**heartsofsteel54** · 26-09-2011 09:13

I'm on board.

**Mad Professor** · 26-09-2011 12:40

exciting, I'm in

**mankle30** · 26-09-2011 17:32

February 11, 1936:

The failed coup has sprung the country into civil war. The plan was that General Jose Sanjurjo, the leader of the coup, would take over the army, but there was no time to grieve his death from a tragic plane crash. Franco’s only other rival to lead the Nacionalistas was Emilio Mola, who didn’t inspire the confidence of the other leaders. Therefore, it was he, Francisco Franco, who was left with an enormous undertaking: Unite Spain under the Nacionalista banner!

Franco examined his ruling council and made some changes to his provisional Nationalist government. He installed Jose Yanguas Messia as his foreign minister. His excellent relationships with the other Fascist governments in Italy and Germany would help align Nationalist Spain to their cause, in hopes of gaining more glory for Spain! Juan March Ordinas, the new armament minister, would more efficiently organize the workers and factories to get as much as 10% more production. The new Minister of Security, Pedro Sainz Rodriguez would motivate the best and brightest of the country to get more great minds to work for the nation. Luis Orgaz Yoldi, appointed Head of Intelligence, would increase intelligence on the Republican ground forces. Finally, Jose Enrique Varela Iglesias took over as chief of the Army (who would reduce supply consumption by as much as 10%, and the new Naval chief, Francisco Nunez de Olaneta would allow for greater naval base efficiency.

Franco decided to enact laws to maximize his labour, manpower, and industrial forces, enacting a country wide draft, and forcing all manufacturing to focus on heavy industry and armament production. This being war-time, and with potential traitors at every turn, Franco instituted Martial Law, repressing the population.

Franco turned his attention to his country's intellectual resources. He realized that this civil war would be won on the ground, and that he would need to focus on the leadership of his army. Due to the defection of large numbers of officers loyal to the Republican regime, he would need to train and recruit new officers, thus this would become the focus of much of the leadership of Nationalist Spain. With the remaining portions of the intellectual elite, Franco ordered them to begin examining a new way of organizing the army at an operational level. This would hopefully allow units to press on the fight sooner after a battle. Also, new Infantry Warfare doctrines would be researched in order to help the generals organize their divisions to enable the units to fight longer and harder. Eventually, funds would be allocated to investigating whether it would be possible to upgrade their infantry to the Fusil Mauser M.1898 rifle. Finally, the foreign service would get whatever funding was left in order to negotiate agreements fund and properly acquire resources that will propel us to victory.

Franco instructed Jose Yanguas Messia, his foreign minister, to align himself with Germany and their “Axis.” Although, an axis of one was not much of an axis, was it?

**eqqman** · 26-09-2011 19:37

Ah, so it's "evil" Franco. You have chosen... wisely.

**mankle30** · 26-09-2011 21:29

Originally Posted by eqqman

Ah, so it's "evil" Franco. You have chosen... wisely.

Well, if you consider the axis to be "evil." In the world of the game, we prefer to think of it as "benevolent world domination."

**mankle30** · 27-09-2011 01:32

Examining the military situation, units were scattered all over the two major Nationalist regions, the large part in the north, and a few isolated provinces in the south. There were no divisions in any sense of military hierarchy, and there were even isolated brigades that had little to no combat effectiveness. Franco’s initial orders would be to consolidate military units into effective ones, and assemble them to a defensible line. Additionally, these units needed to be integrated into a hierarchy that would add efficiency and effectiveness.

One of our isolated brigades

Ordering the isolated 34. Regimiento to join a standing division

In terms of Naval power, Franco had 6 combat vessels – the Canarias, a heavy cruiser, two light cruisers – the Republica and the Mendez Nunez, and the Flotilla de Escolta destroyer group. He immediately ordered the Mendez Nunez to join the other three fighting vessels at Cadiz. The Miguel de Cervantes Light Cruiser, escorting two transport fleets from Republican held Barcelona were ordered to Cadiz immediately, as was the Armada Colonial, a small fleet with the 3rd Flotilla de Torpederas escorting two more transports fleets.

The Nationalist Naval Roster

The fleet docked in Barcelona

Canary Islands fleet

Franco’s two interceptor squadrons were based in Republican Barcelona, and ordered to fly to La Coruna. Franco was told that two tactical bomber squadrons were based at Madrid, but was unable to contact their leaders with instructions.

Nationalist Air Force Roster

Now, he was as prepared as he could be. As the war began, it would a challenge of improvisation and cobbling together the troops to take the Republicans.

**mankle30** · 29-09-2011 18:57

Just an hour into the war, Franco was informed that four provinces had been lost: Foz, Pamplona, the Canary Islands, and Laayoune, while brief battle at Zaragoza was won, with neither side taking any casualties.

Other battles raged, as the Nacionalistas were losing heartily in Madric, Seville, La Coruna, Barcelona, and Valencia, while Salamnca, Valladolid and Ceuta were still in question.

This prompted Franco to examine his tactical map of Spain. He noted where his single regiments were and where binary divisions (of two regiments) were.

His first instinct upon examining the map was that things were messy. His first orders of business were a) to combine single regiments with other singles, or with binary divisions to strengthen those fighting units; and b) to eliminate pockets of Republican forces behind friendly lines.

Franco quickly instructed the 33. Regimiento to stay put in Lebrija, while General Yague Blanco was put in charge of the 1-2 Tabor de Regulares in Cadiz and ordered to link up with the 33. Regimiento to make a more powerful fighting unit.

In Al Hoceima in Spanish Morocco, General Davila Arrondo was ordered to rendez-vous with the 6a Division de Infanteria in Tetouan in order to completely clear the north African territories of Republican troops. The 34. Reimiento in San Javier was also instructed to link with Alonso Vega’s 6/3a Division Organica in Ayora.

The Armada Colonial in the Canary Islands was ordered to evacuate the 4th Infantry Division, which would be amalgamated with other units on the mainland. General Volkmann was placed in command of the 8/4a Division Organica and ordered to hold in Isona to allow the division to fill out before linking up with the other troops in Zaragoza (the 2nd and 5th Infantry divisions).

General Volkmann's new command

The 2nd and 5th Infantry Divisions

Franco decided to amalgamate his only light armoured division, the 2. Brigada Blindada with the 9. Regimiento of Cavalry to increase combat effectiveness.

Cavalry and Light Armour attacking before amaglamation

An hour later, at 21:00 hours, a letter came from Italy. Mussolini was sending Infantry to help the Fascist cause! We receive a new division in Burgos, the temporary capital.

Franco chose Queipo de Llano y Sierra to lead the 1st Inf. Division, and Beigbeder Atienza to command the 8th division.

At 23:00, news of battle results came in, without losses as either one side or the other realized that they were in no position to take a particular province without extensive reorganization. We disengaged in Madrid and Salamanca (which we lost), Barcelona and Valencia, while the Republicans disengaged in La Coruna, Seville and Ceuta.

Franco finally reached his tactical bombers and sent them to Seville. He was frustrated that the distances between any of the airfields that he had in his possession and the front were far too great to make use of his air power. This made the capture of a Republican airfield of utmost importance.

General Garcia Valino took command of the 1/1a Division Organica in Segovia and was ordered to move first to Arevalo, and then to help the offensive against the cavalry regiment that got caught in Valladolid.

The Cavalry division in Salamanca would have to be dealt with to make sure that it didn’t cause problems behind friendly lines.

Additionally, General Moscardo Ituarte and his 3rd Infantry Division was ordered to retreat to Plasencia, to make for a better defensive position on the other side of the river.

**mankle30** · 30-09-2011 18:10

12 February 1936:

As the new day dawns, Franco has a better picture of what is needed to do in this new era. The forces of Nationalist Spain were his to command. The weight of victory or defeat would fall on his shoulders, and there was no way back. Franco has his ambitions, far beyond the mere governance of his people. He would make his country a power again. But first, he must destroy the remnants of the Republic.

He could allocate more IC to upgrades, after the reinforcement needs had dropped, but he also needed to allocate IC to producing supplies. Now, with his needs met, he would channel available IC to upgrade his troops, as well as produce one more artillery brigade. If this war stretched on beyond the summer, the improved ability to pepper his opponents with artillery fire could prove decisive. His artillery would inflict 50% more damage to opposing units while adding somewhat to its ability to both attack and defend. It also would not require as many young men to produce the artillery, which could come in handy, should Nationalist Spain be required to send troops elsewhere should a wider war come.

Franco decided that he would have to evacuate any troops from the islands. With no more convoys left, and no way to supply them, they would be evacuated and made available to fight on the mainland.

The industrial situation was going to be dire soon. With not enough coal, metals or rare materials to fuel their factories, Franco set his foreign minister, Jose Massia, to work to acquire enough raw materials from countries that would not require us to ship them ourselves….

He works his magic, acquiring 28 tonnes of coal and 13 tons of rare materials from the British (who probably support our enemies!).

Our initial overture to France to sell supplies (to pay for these resources) fell flat, but the Soviet Union agreed to buy 17 tonnes of supplies to more than reimburse the money we would spend on the resources. We need to arrange to sell more supplies (which unfortunately will suck up IC) in order to purchase more resources.

The victorious divisions in Zaragoza, the 2nd and 5th infantry divisions were sent to Huesca and Barbastro (respectively) to link up with Volkman’s 8/4a Division.
Franco would have to order Blanco’s unit to attack Seville, as the republicans had managed to keep a hold of it.

2nd and 5th infantry divisions

At 15:00, we get word that our German friends would help us, giving us 3 more infantry brigades in Burgos. General Garcia Escamez was put in command, and the three divisions in Burgos , the 1st, 8th, and 9th divisions were put under the command of Gen. Orgaz Yoldi under I. Corps and sent to put the Republican units at Salamanca at bay.

Franco decided to abandon the port at Cadiz, as the units there, were cut off from the supply lines from Burgos… We would return to Seville, but not just yet. We would need to supply over land, since our convoys were not able to carry the load.

Towards the end of the day, Franco received word that Republican units had abandoned the port of Bilbao and sent the 1st Morrocan Cavalry Division to take and hold that port.

The second day of the war came to an end with plans moving forward. The bulk of the battle was still to come.

**mankle30** · 06-10-2011 16:05

February 13 1936:

The next day resulted in the victory at the Battle of Huesca.

The 1/1a Division Organica arrived in Arevado and was now being ordered to Salmoral to head off the Republicans.

February 14: Surrounding and eliminating the pocket of enemy troops behind friendly lines was Franco’s highest priority. Von Sperrle’s 1a Escuadra Aerea would do some bombing, but its primary mission was recon to see how much opposition we could expect. Four divisions were on their way and would hopefully be able to contain and destroy the enemy. The aerial assault discovered 2 infantry brigades and an HQ in Salamanca.

Just north, in Ledesma, there were two Cavalry brigades that could cause all kinds of problems.

After their recon mission, the bomber squadron was sent to bomb enemy troops at Navia where were engaged with one of our one-regiment divisions.

We had taken Valladolid, losing only 14 troops, while killing a much higher percentage of Republicans.

The Armada Colonial would send the single brigade 4th Infantry Division to La Coruna to hold the port while General Gambara’s 15/8 Divison Organica sweeps east to clear out Republican territory.

February 15: The good news kept coming, as Franco's forces win a second battle of Huesca as our troops finally take the ground as we start to see a coherent line of battle being drawn. His cavalry have taken Bilbao and will work west to link up with our other divisions.

Garcia Vallino’s 1/1a Divison Organica is committed to attacking at Piedrahita, but unfortunately, will probably not be able to keep that division from retreating behind Republican lines.

February 16: Franco receives news that a province in West Africa has been taken by the Republicans. He raged at his aides. "West Africa?! West Africa?!?. West Africa is meaningless! It is in Iberia that the Nacionalista victory will come!"

Gen. Yague Blanco is sent to Seville to capture the city. Hopefully they could relieve the cavalry brigade stuck in Nerva, just north of Seville, and attempt to open up a supply line back to Nationalist lines.

Franco sends his bomber squadron to take on the Republican mountain division in Reinosa, as Varela Iglesias’s division will need the assistance!

February 18: Iglesias has won and begins moving into Reinosa. Further east, Volkmann is sent into Rodellar to head off Republican divisions on the retreat.

February 19: The Nationalists lose Piedrahita. This is a blow as the Republicans will now be able to save those units and retreat. A new aide reports to Franco that with the capture of Seville, the IC received a boost from the 17 base IC on the 14th to the 26 base IC at his disposal now …

Franco spies a way to inch closer to victory. He sends the units in the region of Valencia to take the port of Valencia and the province of Murcia. By taking their valuable industrial sites (with one factory in each of those cities), the enemy will be closer to crumbling, allowing Franco to crush the will of the people. Similarly, he detaches the 33. Cadiz infantry brigade to take the coastal province of Huelva.

Southeast Victory Provinces

Moving to Cadiz

With the enemy troops at Piedrahita retreating, Franco generates a new plan. He sends all of his troops in the vicinity of Madrid to surround the capital, cut it off from reinforcements and take it.

The plan to seize Madrid

**mankle30** · 07-10-2011 04:18

February 20: The 9th Infantry division attacks the Republican Cavalry division in the mountains of Sotillo de la Adrada. This battle appears to be going well, with the assistance of the bomber squadron to help soften up the republican divisions.

Franco’s first Moroccan Cavalry division is sent to Llanes to cut off the republicans and hopefully incite a surrender.

February 22: Franco sends his entire navy, first to pick up troops stationed in Spanish Morocco, and then to the apparently undefended port of Malaga, he also begins moving pieces in the north to eliminate the republican mountain division.

Franco’s troops moving into position to take Seville begin taking fire, as the headquarters unit in Segovia is attacked. The Hq quickly retreated, but 4 hours later, the 1st infantry division was able to get in position to hold the line.

February 24: Franco was able to take Valencia, while the HQ unit’s push north to link up with supply lines stalled by way of an enemy HQ unit. An effort to relieve the pressure was launched with an infantry division and an HQ brigade heading south. In the Southwest, the drive to take Huelva stalled, due to the brigade’s running out of supplies.

Near Madrid, several divisions have now set up in a line and were moving to surround the (currently Republican) capital.

El Mizzian’s Morrocan Cavalry are now no longer needed in the north, after the surrender of an infantry brigade at Piedras Blancas, and will be moved south to Madrid. 2 of the divisions stationed in Spanish Morocco are embarked and sent to Malaga.

February 25: the Republican Mountaineers try to break out of the strangle hold that Franco is setting up. With the republican troops now committed, our cavalry/light armoured division goes to Pamplona to complete the stranglehold.

The 34. Regimiento makes it to Murcia and is able to capture enough supplies to make a push for the coast at Cartagena.

With order and calm coming in the north, units are being diverted to Madrid to finalize the push to surround the capital.

February 26: The Nationalists take Malaga, but take a loss at Segovia. Franco orders the 8th infantry division to attack Madrid, in order to keep the Republican units from breaking out. He hopes to move his divisions into position quickly enough to keep the 8th from burning itself out before our other units are ready to attack.

**mankle30** · 12-10-2011 00:55

The tactical situation on February 27

February 27: The 7a. Regimiento was instructed to proceed to Badajoz to open up supply lines to our units in the Seville Area.

The 1-2 Tabor de Regulares was ordered to Lora del Rio where some supply had been stockpiled. This would help them get to Huelva to capture the valuable region. On loan from Italy, General Bergonzoli was put in charge of the Circumscripcion Occidental and was ordered to Granada to meet the Republican division attacking.

Having arrived at Candasnos, Gen. Vigon Suerodiaz’s 5th Infantry Division was sent south to open a supply line to Alonso Vega’s Division in Valencia.

Franco was so intent on the battles raging in Iberia that he was dismissive of his aide, Luis, when informed of another lost West African province. He sent the fleet, currently docked in the North African port of Ceuta, to the Northern Balearic Islands to pick up the troops stationed there. They would be deployed in Valencia to help open supply lines and to link up with the 5th infantry division.

In the mid-afternoon, Franco was informed of two important victories in the battles in the north.

The Republican mountaineers had broken off and retreated. If our armoured/cavalry division could reach Pamplona first, he would be able to cut off their escape route. 4 hours later, that was what indeed happened. The mountaineers ended their attack quickly.

At 2200, the Republican division lay down their arms and surrendered. Our forces were immediately ordered south to aid at Madrid and in the supply line opening missions.

February 28: Franco was informed that our navy had engaged the Republican Navy in the Eastern Alboran Sea.

Odds were only about 50% that we would end up being able to punch through to the Islands. At 0500, the Republicans broke off their attack, and our fleet, while not sinking any Republican vessels, was able to proceed without any losses of their own.

At about 1500 hours, Luis was about to inform Franco that the island of Fuerteventura was lost to the Republicans, but remembering what happened the last time he informed the Generalissimo of a loss in West Africa, he thought he would just bring his leader his afternoon coffee.

Instead, Franco was informed that 7. Regimiento had broken through the minimal enemy defences and opened up a supply line to Seville. However, the unit was so exhausted from their long march that it would need a week before it could be activated for combat again.

March 1: Franco instructed his Armament Minister, Juan March Ordinas to produce more convoys. He now had more available industrial capacity, thanks to his units success on the ground.

The 13/7a Divison Organica, while trying to attack Alcala de Henares, on the outskirts of Madrid, was attacked itself in Guadelajara. Franco ordered the unit to break off its attack, and to strictly defend. He ordered Gen. Garcia Ecamez to attack at Escalona get closer to Madrid. For this attack, Garcia Ecamez would be supported by the Air Force bombers.

The 34. Regimiento reached Cartagena and was ordered north to Almansa to create a link to the units at Valencia.

March 2: The fleet made it to the Northern Balearic Islands and the units there were being directed aboard our vessels for transport to the mainland.

Having lost the battle for Madrid, another wave was thrown at the Republicans, this time with Garcia Valino’s 1/1a Divison Organica.

The situation in the east was becoming more difficult with an infantry division and a cavalry division spotted. These units could potentially be very problematic to the Nationalists’ still unopened supply lines.

Franco was given news about Italy’s choice to have the trains run on time... He threw the paper communiqué on the floor screaming, “What’s that got to do with us! Don’t you people know we’re at war here!”

March 3: The units on board the fleet were sent to Valencia, while Alonso Vega’s division was sent north to stock up on the supplies captured in Segerbe.

March 4: Sanjurjo Sacanell’s division now arrives in Valencia and is ordered to the East to Sagunto to create a broader front of defense for the units linking up to create the supply line.

March 5: The Generallisimo learns of the loss at Escalona. He is not too worried. He will let his units rest and others get into position surrounding Madrid before launching another attack.

Yague Blanco arrives in Castuera and immediately attacks the Republican HQ unit in Don Benito.

General Roatta’s HQ unit had captured Barcelona and was now proceeding west to Tarragona. After the capture of Tarragona, it was forseen that only Huelva and Madrid would need to be captured for the Republicans to lose any hope of success!

**mankle30** · 12-10-2011 01:01

March 6: Don Benito was taken. It will take a while for this unit to be able to attack again, but Franco could see his lines consolidating nicely.

After the capture of Barcelona, more factories were available, and Franco decided that he would begin work on forming a Garrison division. This would be the first of many that would be needed, if things went to plan. But first, he must finish the Republicans off!

Franco received bad news, the loss of the battle at Guadelejara. However, with units arriving at Alcobendas, he would send his cavalry division to replace the retreating infantry.

The 5th Infantry Division arrives at Lucena del Cid, finally opening up a supply line to Valencia.

However, intelligence noticed a Republican division looking to close that line up... To prevent that, Gen. Volkmann was ordered to board the trains to get his troops into place to defend. The 5th Infantry was then ordered back to Muniesa, while Gen. Alonso Vega’s troops were ordered to get on trains to Lucena del Cid in order to defend against a possible attack.

March 7: Franco’s troops in Segovia are attacked, precipitating El Mizzian’s cavalry division to attack Madrid to attempt to relieve the pressure on Segovia, at least until reinforcements arrive from the north. This works, and the troops in Segovia are no longer under attack.

March 8: Volkmann arrives in Muniesa just in time to get attacked by Burillo Sthole’s infantry division.

The Republicans beat us to Granada, and as such, we begin an attack.

The Comandancia de Baleares division tries to sneak behind the republicans to surround them, while the 5th infantry is getting into position to better defend Muniesa.

March 9: The cavalry has run out of gas attacking Madrid. Franco would need to wait before launching another attack.

Worrying about supply problems, and whether the troops would be able to defend Malaga, the attack of Granada was called off.

The battle at Muniesa was lost, but with the 5th infantry only an hour away, the Nationalists should be able to keep the supply lines open.

March 10: Franco is informed that the Republicans call off their attack at Muniesa. Roatta’s HQ unit has taken Tarragona, and will now be ordered to Cambrils to open up a supply corridor to Barcelona. Gen. Vigon Suerodiaz is ordered to attack the Republicans at Alcaniz, to not give them any time to rest.

March 11: The units in Alcobendas are attacked by a mountaineer division. It is not known how long they can hold out, however, another division from the north still is yet to arrive in Guadelajara.

March 12: We are attacked at Tarragona, but Roatta’s HQ valiantly defended itself!
The 5th infantry division wins at Alcaniz.

**mankle30** · 12-10-2011 01:02

Note: My screenshots from March 7 to 12th corrupted or something, so there aren't any from those dates. However, I had only played up until 12:00am on the 13th, so things should be back on track for the next Chapter.

**mankle30** · 12-10-2011 05:24

March 13: Italy’s war ends as they install a sympathetic government in Ethiopia.

On the home front, Franco realized that the defenders in Alcobendas would be able to hold out long enough. The 2nd infantry division was almost at Guadalajara, and from there would be able to attack and relieve the pressure.

Indeed, by 9am, the Republicans in Alcala de Henares had broken off their attack and now were on the defensive. However, another enemy unit began to assault the still fresh and strong 2nd Infantry Division at Guadalajara. The commander, General Asensio Cabanillas, assured Franco that neither enemy unit posed much of a threat.

March 14: With Guadalajara secure, at 8am, Franco could wait no longer. He ordered four divisions under the command of no less than his Chief of the Army, General Varela Iglesias to commence the assault on Madrid. While the odds appeared against the attackers, Franco felt that there was strength in numbers. Iglesias coordinated his attack well, throwing all he had into the fight, leaving no reserves. This would be an all or nothing proposition.

The news came in that the Republicans broke off their attack of Guadalajara, with only 18 of his soldiers dead, compared to more than 5 times that number on the other side. It appeared that the Republicans were losing their stomach for war.

March 16, 8am: General Franco was drinking his coffee, reading over supply briefings from the corners of the country. They had no ships to supply the islands or any units in Spanish Morocco. He had taken to lying awake at night trying to figure out if there was any way that he would be able to solve the problem swiftly.

“Generalissimus! General Franco! “ Luis cried, running into the command centre out of breath.

“What is it Luis? More news of another African province lost? Good. At least we won’t have to supply it!” Franco barked.

“No, Senor General . . . .it is news from General Varela Iglesias . . . from Madrid. . . . General, we have won!”

Franco’s eyes widened. He looked at the communiqué sent from Varela Iglesias. It was true. They had won. The war would end. He sat down and watched the tough, courageous men in his command centre hug each other and weep tears of joy. The war would end, and a glorious new era would begin.

In the afternoon, Franco received word of a brief, bloodless skirmish just outside of Madrid. One of the Republican Generals had probably not gotten word. But the battle ended as quickly as it began with no casualties on either side.

At 2000, the conquering units entered the government buildings in Madrid, and at 0100 on March 17, the Republicans handed over their surrender to Franco. He graciously accepted and eased some of his restrictions.

He maintained policies of a 3 year draft and a war economy (he knew that this would not be the end of his country’s war in the coming years), and told his industry leaders to add more consumer products to the country’s industry, making a “mixed” industry.

Franco sent messages out to his cabinet who had served so well over the past 35 days. They would be summoned to meet with him individually the following day to present their assessments of where the country stands. This knowledge was crucial if he was to craft his policies for the next few years.

Now that the war was over, and Spain was his, he could begin rebuilding his country into something greater and more powerful than before!